Weir River Farm spring celebration today

Weir River Farm’s annual event marks the start of the growing season and the farm’s programs for children and adults including a weekly open barnyard.

Karen Goulart

John has been getting back to his roots lately. With the sweet smell of hay and soil carried on each breeze that tousles his long black hair, he’s doing the work he was born to do.

On a given day he can be found dragging a sled and clearing rocks from a pasture. But when he’s not busy, he’s happy to greet guests – feel free to rub his snout.

John is a Suffolk Punch draft horse, one of the many animals ready to welcome visitors to Weir River Farm at its annual Celebration of Spring from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Weir River Farm is at the end of Turkey Hill Lane off Leavitt Street.

The event marks the start of the growing season and the farm’s program offerings for children and adults including the weekly “open barnyard” featuring John, his fellow equines and a host of farm-mates feathered, furred and wooly.

Weir River Farm, like John the horse, is a rare breed in these parts nowadays. Once a staple of rural towns, working farms are few and far between on the South Shore. Renowned 20th-century artist Polly Thayer Starr bequeathed the property to the Trustees of Reservations in 1999 to ensure agriculture here would endure.

In addition to touring the 75-acre property, visitors on Saturday will be able to watch sheep shearing and wool spinning demonstrations – not a moment too soon, notes Trustees South Shore properties superintendent Ed Pitcavage, patting the ample coat of one member of the farm’s overdressed flock.

“It’s so hot for them right now,” he said. “They’ll feel a lot better on Saturday.”

In this season of rebirth, the folks at Weir River are eager to share what’s new at the old farm. John the draft horse’s return to his laboring roots is helping out with a project undertaken in 2006 in which several acres of trees were removed to restore pasture land. The project was part of an effort to bring back birds such as meadowlarks and bobolinks that nest in grasslands.

Visitors will be able to explore the farm on a new trail that runs directly through the pasture, offering more opportunities to get up close to the animals.

Also this year, the farm will endeavor to raise for market piglets and a herd of beef cattle. A pair of grass-fed steer from the farm recently were put to market and sold quickly.

Pitcavage said the sale of pork and beef, as well as eggs, would figure into the farm’s broader plans to start a CSA. Short for Community Supported Agriculture, a CSA is a way for local farmers to connect with local consumers. At the start of the growing season, consumers pay a set fee to become essentially shareholders in the farm. In exchange, the consumer receives a weekly basket or bundle of fresh goods from the farm during the growing season.

The Trustees have two other CSAs, Appleton Farms in Ipswich and Powisset Farm in Dover. Pitcavage said locals scramble to participate, the shares sell out in a matter of days.

“It’s fresh vegetables and produce every week and it’s grown here,” he said. “It’s not being shipped from California or somewhere, it’s coming right out of their backyard.”

As Sophina the llama ambles up a hill and Winston, a Bernese Mountain dog, curls up by a fence post, Billy and Miriam, a pair of Nigerian Dwarf goats vie for the attention and offerings of grass from a trio of youngsters walking the farm trails with their grandmother.

Eileen Richards is making sure that Olivia, 12, Grace, 6, and Owen, 4, all of Hingham, realize what special places still exist right here in their hometown.